2009 Album Review #3: Bob Dylan - Together Through Life

Bob Dylan is an artist who I feel like has aged well...until now. You should understand that type of Dylan fan I am. There is very little about the "classic" Bob Dylan catalog that I actually enjoy. Aside from "Lay, Lady, Lay" and "The Man in Me" (which I attribute liking it to The Big Lebowski), there really aren't too many Bob Dylan songs from prior to 1997 that I really enjoy or even like to an extent. Granted, I've never really dug deep into his material. It is when I hear the amazing work he has done in his later years, that I find it somewhat hard to believe this is the same Dylan. Starting with 97's "Time out of Mind", Dylan has released three really fantastic albums. They are all a perfect mix of that American blues/rock sound, Bob's gruff and well-aged voice (which yes, sounds ten times better than his voice in his younger days), and his cleverly written lyrics. Unfortunately, on "Together Through Life", the energy and spirit just aren't there. Aside from the first track "Beyond Here Lies Nothing" (which is almost an appropriate description of the album itself) there isn't much here to really go crazy about. Dylan's voice no longer just sounds gruff around the edges, but almost somewhat damaged. The songs aren't as lively and fun throughout. There is simply something lacking about the entire record that the previous three had. I would say that I hope it's not the start of a trend, but to be honest, the fact that we got three strong releases from Dylan at all is already more than I could expect.